Cranberry Rosemary Vegan Cheese Ball

This cranberry rosemary vegan cheese ball is a great make-ahead appetizer for festive occasions or any old day of the week! Deliciously sweet and savoury, super easy to make and great served with crackers, fruit of veggies, this vegan cheese ball will be a great addition to your holiday table!

So I apologize in advance for this cashew-heavy recipe. Seeing as how I was just complaining in my vegan clam chowder recipe about the rising price of cashews and trying to economize, here I am with a recipe calling for one whole cup of cashews! Sorry!

But let me tell you that this cranberry rosemary vegan cheese ball is worth it (plus it’s the holidays and we want to serve awesome vegan food to all the omnis so we can stretch the budget a bit!).

So vegan cheese balls aren’t a new thing. There are a bajillion recipes on the internet and you may have already tried one yourself. I was always sceptical about how good they could be until I tried the one from the new Fuss-Free Vegan cookbook.

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That one was jalapeño cheddar and omg, it was so addictive! That’s when I realize how adaptable vegan cheese balls are. Once you’ve made a basic cashew base seasoned with nutritional yeast, garlic, salt and lemon juice, you can add whatever other spices, herbs and flavourings you want to it.

I don’t have too many holiday recipes on the blog yet besides these vegan mint chocolate truffles so I wanted to make a festive vegan cheese ball for those of you who are still looking for ideas for this holiday season.

Cranberries, chives, rosemary and walnuts make this vegan cheese ball both colourful and tasty! If you don’t like/have rosemary, you can use your favourite herb. Same with walnuts, you can swap them for pecans or hazelnuts if you want.

So once you’ve assembled your ingredients, making you vegan cheese ball is as simple as blending the cashews until creamy, adding the flavour ingredients and transferring the mixture to a plastic wrap-lined bowl.

Mold it into a ball shape and pop it in the fridge to solidify. If you’re in a hurry you can also put it in the freezer (just be careful not to freeze it!). Just before serving roll it in the ground nuts and you’re ready to go! This cranberry rosemary vegan cheese ball is great served with your favourite crackers, fresh or pickled vegetables, fruit and olives. Just try not to eat the whole thing yourself!

Instructions

Place the cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, coconut oil, miso paste, garlic and salt in a small food processor and blend until smooth.

2

Add the rosemary, chives and cranberries and pulse a couple of times to combine.

3

Transfer the mixture to a small bowl you’ve lined with plastic wrap, leaving quite a bit of overhang on the plastic wrap to fold it up over the top of the ball. Twist the plastic wrap to form the cheese into more or less a ball shape and put it into the fridge for a couple of hours or the freezer for an hour, or until it’s firm.

4

Just before you’re ready to serve, toast the chopped walnuts in a pan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they smell wonderful and taste nutty – about 10 minutes. Blitz them in a food processor until finely ground and then transfer them to a plate.

5

Remove your cheese ball from the fridge, reshape it into a ball if necessary, and remove the plastic wrap. Roll it in the crushed walnuts to cover (I like to hold the ball between two spoons while I do this to help keep the shape and not get so messy!).